The Ghost In You
by Kristen Elizabeth
Summary: A terrible secret from Michiru's past threatens to tear her away from Haruka forever.


Disclaimer: These wonderfully created characters do not belong to me, but to an artist across the sea whom we all respect, Naoko Takeuchi. The song lyrics belong to The Psychedelic Furs, as sung by the Counting Crows. (Happy, Rob?)   
  
Author's Notes: As a first year student of the Japanese language, I felt compelled to show off my very limited knowledge in this story. If you don't understand a word or phrase, look at the context it's used in and you can probably figure out what it means, or close to it anyways. Email me with any corrections, 'cause like I said, I'm learning:)   
  
Dedication: To Rob, who guided me through this story with encouragement ("ARE YOU DONE YET???") and humor ("You finished the entire story last night, right?") Thank you for being a friend:)   
  
**************  
  
The Ghost In You  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
".....inside you the time moves and she don't fade.  
The ghost in you, she don't fade away  
The race is on; I'm on your side.   
But hearing you, my engines died.  
I'm in the mood for you, or for running away....."  
  
**************  
  
The world was quiet. There was nothing weighing her down as she floated; nothing touched her but cool, wet silk. She didn't have to move if she didn't care to. Her body would stay suspended for as long as she liked.   
  
This was her time, the hour of the day she set aside only for herself. Her family knew it and knew better than to take it away from her. She smiled, letting the water lap up around her cheeks, almost to her mouth. Her dear family...without them, not even the ocean itself could make her smile.   
  
Lazily, she pushed one hand through the pool, enjoying the feel of the water as it slid over her skin. She brought the hand up to her head, combing her fingers through her hair. The aquamarine locks spread around her face. Taking a deep breath, she dipped her head below the water line.   
  
The vision hit her underwater. It was nothing more than a flash of a blurred face, but the anger behind it made her blood run colder than the water. Her mouth opened in shock; water rushed in. She choked. Without thinking, her feet hit the bottom of the pool and she rose up, breaking the surface with a huge gasp for air. She stood in waist deep water for a minute as she collected her breath. Whose face had that been? Where had it come from?   
  
She heard a car door slam outside. On the other side of the wall that separated the indoor pool from the rest of the house, she heard a voice shouting with glee.  
  
"Haruka-papa!!"   
  
Kaioh Michiru pushed her body through the water and climbed up the pool steps. Dripping wet, she wrung out her hair and wrapped a towel around her lower body. With an extra bounce in her step, she left her water sanctuary behind and made her way into the main house.   
  
In the foyer, she saw her partner and lover, Ten'oh Haruka kneeling to embrace their adopted daughter, Hotaru. Haruka still wore her racing coversuit with its old, faded grease streaks. Her short, sandy hair was windblown; her handsome face, sun-kissed and sweaty although the sun had long since set.   
  
Michiru's heart skipped a beat. She could look at her girlfriend ten times everyday and never lose that feeling. Love, desire, pride, happiness....all rolled into one. She wanted to fly to Haruka, but there would be time for that later. Right now was their daughter's time.   
  
Haruka looked up and noticed her. She winked and kissed the air. Michiru touched her fingers to her lips and blew a return kiss.   
  
"Did you have a fun drive, Haruka-papa?", Hotaru asked loudly.   
  
"I did, Hime-chan", she replied, using their special nickname for their little princess. "What did you do today?"   
  
Hotaru grinned, revealing a hole in her front row of tiny white teeth. "I lost a tooth!!"   
  
Haruka's eyes flew open in exaggerated shock. "I was wondering if it would come out today. You saved it hai?" Hotaru nodded. "Good...because you know what will happen...."  
  
"The Tooth Fairy!", Hotaru exclaimed, happily. "Setsuna-mama said if I put my tooth under my pillow, the Tooth Fairy would take it and leave me money!"   
  
Michiru approached them and kneeled down. "That's right. So, you have to make sure you go to bed without giving Setsuna any trouble."   
  
Hotaru's violet eyes grew wide. "The Tooth Fairy watches me even before I fall asleep?"   
  
Haruka caught onto her girlfriend's plan and nodded at her daughter solemnly. "She does. You have to stay in bed once the lights are out. And no asking for another glass of water or another story."   
  
The girl's forehead crinkled with determination. "I promise, Haruka-papa."   
  
Laughter drifted down the wide staircase, growing louder as Meioh Setsuna came down from the second floor. "Just what are you telling her?"   
  
Haruka and Michiru exchanged an innocent look. "The truth about the Tooth Fairy", Haruka replied.   
  
Setsuna smiled and shook her head in amusement. "Come on, Hime-chan." She reached for Hotaru's small hand. "Let's get you ready for bed." When Hotaru's back was turned, she winked at the couple. "Oyasumi-nasai, you two."   
  
The plan worked. Without so much as a word of protest, Hotaru let Setsuna take her back up the stairs and into her room. "Konban wa, Haruka-papa! Konban wa, Michiru-mama!", the little girl called out from the second floor.  
  
"Konban wa, Hime-chan", they replied in unison. Setsuna laughed and picked Hotaru up, carrying her away from the balcony.   
  
Michiru and Haruka were left alone in the foyer. "She's been through so much..." Haruka tightened her fist. "It's good that she can finally have a normal childhood."   
  
"Are you hungry, Ruka-chan?", Michiru asked, touching Haruka's fingers. "We saved some dinner for you."   
  
Haruka relaxed and took Michiru's hand, kissing the back of it as they stood up. "Hai, I was just going to grab something quick. Were you heading to bed?"   
  
Michiru nodded. "Meet you up there?"  
  
In response, Haruka kissed her again, this time softly on the lips. "I'll only be a minute. Partner." Playfully, she slapped Michiru's towel covered backside as she jogged for the kitchen.   
  
The Senshi of Neptune hid her grin behind one perfectly pale hand. As soon as Haruka was out of sight, she turned and began to climb the staircase. Life, she thought, was dangerously close to perfection.  
  
**************  
  
Michiru gave her now-dry hair a final swipe before setting down her silver-handled brush with a sigh. She glanced at the ornate clock on her dresser. The minute Haruka had promised to take had somehow turned into forty-five minutes.   
  
She stood and reached for her robe, pulling it on over her sea-foam green satin nightdress. Quietly, she made her way downstairs. The marble of the foyer floor was smooth and cool against her bare feet.   
  
"Ruka-chan?", she called out softly. She received no answer. Her brow crinkled and she kept walking.   
  
There was a faint blue glow from the dining room. No one had remembered to turn the aquarium's light off. She padded into the room. In the large tank, her myriad of tropical fish floated lazily, their bodies casting strange, moving shadows on the white washed walls. Quickly, she found the tank's switch and turned it off. She could hear the faint sounds of a TV news anchor giving the late night news from the next room over. "Haruka?" Still no answer.  
  
Michiru stepped into the kitchen and breathed a little sigh of relief. Haruka sat on the floor, her body slumped in sleep over the low kitchen table. Her even breath ruffled the bangs of hair that fell over her closed eyes. A bowl of half-eaten ginger chicken and rice rested near her hand, chopsticks discarded.   
  
Carefully, Michiru approached her and turned off the tiny kitchen TV. She kneeled, reaching out a hand to brush her girlfriend's bangs back from her face. "I should wake you up, koi, but I just don't have the heart." She picked up the bowl and the chopsticks and stood to take them to the sink. When she turned the faucet on, she was struck again with the vision. The bowl fell to the floor and shattered.   
  
The same face came to her. It was angry....its lips formed silent shouts. Slowly, they became audible.  
  
"Why?", the voice screamed. "Why??" Michiru raised her arms to her eyes to fend it off.   
  
Something grabbed her wrist. "Michiru!", Haruka's voice cried.   
  
The face disappeared. Michiru's eyes were wet with frightened tears. She looked up at her girlfriend, but couldn't speak.   
  
Haruka eased her grip. "Michi-ko...what happened?" The aqua haired girl didn't answer; she shook her head, tears flowing freely now. Haruka drew her into a soothing embrace. "It's all right....it's all right. I'm here."   
  
"Kami-sama", Michiru managed to whisper into Haruka's shoulder after a few minutes. "The face....the same face...."  
  
The Senshi of Uranus held her at arm's length. "What's going on, Michi-ko? What face?"   
  
"I saw...this face..." Fresh tears appeared.   
  
Haruka stroked her hair. "It's all right."   
  
"It wasn't the first time, Ruka. I saw her in the pool today, too. Right before you came home."   
  
"Why didn't you tell me?"   
  
"I didn't think it was...important." Michiru closed her eyes. "She's so familiar....I don't know why she is, but I feel like I should know."   
  
Haruka kissed her forehead. "You don't have to think about it right now, Michi-ko. What you need to do is sleep. Why don't you go get into bed and I'll clean up this." She gestured to the broken china bowl.   
  
Michiru's eyes flew open and she shook her head. "No...no, please don't leave me alone, Ruka. I don't...I don't want to be alone."   
  
The fear in her girlfriend's face sent a sliver of worry into Haruka's heart. She could no more have denied Michiru's request than she could have plunged a knife into her breast. "Of course I won't, kirei. I promise I won't leave you." She embraced her again.   
  
Michiru wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's toned waist. The warmth from Haruka's body spread into her cold limbs. Fear melted away with a spark of desire. She lifted her head from Haruka's shoulder and looked up into her girlfriend's eyes, happy to see the same spark in them. Their lips touched, tongues met. Haruka tasted of ginger, tart and sweet at the same time.   
  
Haruka pulled away and trailed little kisses down Michiru's cheek until she reached the soft spot where face met neck. "What if Hime-chan wakes up?"   
  
"With the threat of the Tooth Fairy hanging over her?", Michiru breathed, running her fingers through Haruka's hair. "I doubt she will."   
  
The kisses took a southward path to the opening of Michiru's robe. "Setsuna, then?"   
  
"She would know better than to investigate." She pulled Haruka's face up until their lips met again. "We can stop, though....if you want to", she whispered between kisses.   
  
Haruka shook her head and kissed the tip of Michiru's nose. "I just hope we wake up before breakfast."   
  
*************  
  
The sounds of running water woke Michiru from a blissfully dreamless sleep. She cracked one eye open; Haruka's pillow, still bearing the imprint of her head was in her eyeline. She sat up in bed. Sometime during the night, Haruka must have carried her upstairs. She smiled and lay back against her own pillow.   
  
It was time for her to get up and get ready for school, but she just couldn't make her limbs cooperate. The bed she shared with Haruka was far too comfortable, still warm from the combined heat of their bodies. Besides, Haruka had beaten her to the shower again. She would have to wait to take one. A thought came to her. Waiting was a waste of time....and the shower was big enough for two.....  
  
With fluid motions, Michiru slipped out of bed and crept towards the bathroom. Steam escaped the room by way of the threshold; swirls of white mist curled around her bare legs as she twisted the silver doorknob.   
  
Her body wasn't even completely through the door before the vision came to her once more.   
  
The face, clearly that of a young girl, yelled at her. "Why??", it screamed. "Why did you let it happen?" Her arms became visible; they reached out for Michiru. "You killed me!!!" As quickly as it came, it was gone.   
  
Michiru found herself on her knees on the bathroom's tiled floor. The shower continued to run; Haruka's voice hummed a slightly off-key tune.   
  
Slowly, she picked herself up off the floor, shower forgotten.   
  
For the first time in her life, she didn't want to be anywhere near water.   
  
***************  
  
She was dressed and seated in the passenger's seat of Haruka's sleek, yellow convertible when Haruka stepped out of the front door.   
  
"Michi-ko?" Haruka tossed her schoolbag into the backseat. "What's wrong? You missed breakfast."  
  
"I'm not hungry", she replied, softly.   
  
"All right...", her girlfriend said, getting behind the wheel. She looked over at Michiru. "You're all right?"  
  
"I'm all right."  
  
"All right." After a second's pause, Haruka jammed her key into the ignition and started the engine. She drove through the front gate and turned the car onto the freeway, heading for the university. "Setsuna the Tooth Fairy left three yen under Hime-chan's pillow", Haruka eventually said. "She's pretty much convinced she's the richest girl in the world now."   
  
Michiru didn't answer. The strong wind blew her hair all around, but she made no motion to keep it neat.   
  
Another moment passed before Haruka spoke again. "Suna-chan also said she'd pick Hime-chan up from the zoo today."  
  
"The zoo?", Michiru replied. She hoped, as soon as the words left her mouth, that Haruka hadn't heard.  
  
But she had. "Hai. Hime-chan's class field trip to the zoo is today, remember? We had to sign all those baka papers about it the other day?"  
  
Her girlfriend nodded and said no more.  
  
"Michi-ko...talk to me", Haruka demanded. "What's going on? Are you still thinking about last night?"   
  
"I don't want to talk about it, Haruka." Michiru's voice was flat.   
  
Haruka double-blinked. Her brow furred; lips set in a thin line. She gripped the steering wheel tigher. "Fine. We won't talk then."   
  
There was silence until they reached the university.   
  
Haruka pulled the car up the curb in front of the arts building where she knew Michiru's first class was held. "I'll pick you up at two?"   
  
Michiru shook her head listlessly and got out of the car, sketchbook in hand. "I'll take the bus", she whispered.   
  
"Michi....have I done something to make you mad?", Haruka put the car in neutral, prepared for a lengthy answer. But her girlfriend didn't reply. She simply tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and shook her head again. Her eyes couldn't meet Haruka's. Or wouldn't.  
  
Haruka sighed. "Sayonara, Michiru." She shifted into first and took off across the parking lot.   
  
The sea-green haired girl watched her go, on the verge of tears. Oh, how she wanted to shout out Haruka's name, to make her stop....ask for her forgiveness. But her lips wouldn't form the word; her vocal cords were frozen. Instead, she turned and made her way silently into the fine arts building.   
  
**********  
  
Haruka was the first student out the door of her final class, US History. It was rude of her to leave so quickly, but she wanted to make sure she caught Michiru as she came out of her last class, before she could catch the bus.   
  
Her girlfriend had been on her mind all day. Through five hours of physics, literature and history, all she could think about what finding out what was bothering Michiru. It had to be something big, bigger at least than the vision she had the night before. After all, she had been fine all night afterwards.   
  
"Whatever upset her had to have happened this morning", Haruka reasoned as she climbed into her car and pulled out of the parking slot. "And whether she likes it or not, I am going to find out what it was."   
  
As she pulled up to the science building, she could see the bus only a few yards away. Its doors were open; laughing students stepped up and into it. Amungst them, Haruka spotted her girlfriend.   
  
"Michi!", she shouted over the din of the parking lot. "Michiru!!"  
  
Michiru raised her head; her eyes met Haruka's. She stared at her for a second, as if trying to figure out why the girl would be yelling her name. But instead of getting out of the bus line, Michiru stepped forward to the doors.   
  
As a last resort, Haruka slammed her fist into the middle of the steering wheel; her car emitted a long, wailing honk. Michiru climbed the bus steps and the doors shut behind her.   
  
"Kuso!", Haruka cursed. She sat for a long moment after the bus pulled away, motor still running. "What the hell is going on with you, Michi?"   
  
***********  
  
Michiru had no idea what was going on with her. She thought about it during the entire bus ride, but the only conclusion she kept coming back to was the visions. The last one in the bathroom....she couldn't shake it. Couldn't make herself forget about it. Couldn't make herself share it with the woman she loved. It was as though it had taken ahold of her, gripping her heart with its anger.   
  
Her hand dug around in her schoolbag until it found her henshin wand. Feeling the cool metal against her fingertips provided a bit of comfort. She had power in her hands. The planet power of Neptune. She was an Outer Sailor Senshi.....the elegant past, present and future guardian of the solar system.   
  
So, why was she so scared?   
  
The bus dropped her off in front of the mansion she shared with her little family. She let herself in with her key, knowing full well there was no one there to greet her. Setsuna worked all day and wouldn't return until late afternoon after she picked up Hotaru. And Haruka....somehow she doubted Haruka would come home anytime soon. If she wanted to talk or to argue, she could have beaten the bus, with plenty of time to spare knowing how fast Haruka drove when she was angry.   
  
But she wasn't home and Michiru was alone. With a sigh, she set her schoolbag onto the hall table and kicked off her shoes, replacing them with her house slippers. Her eyes strayed longingly to the door that led to the pool; a swim was exactly what she needed to clear her mind. She quickly dismissed the thought. As she did, hot tears came to her eyes. Her sanctuary was no longer safe.   
  
A blurping sound from the dining room caught her attention. The aquarium.... She couldn't remember the last time she had fed the poor fish. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and walked to the room.  
  
"Gomen nasai, babies", she cooed to the sea creatures as she pulled a bottle of fish food from its place in the silver drawer. She opened the top of the tank and sprinkled some food over the water. "Bon appetit."  
  
"You killed me!!" The vision ripped through her mind without warning. Michiru dropped the bottle of fish food; hundreds of tiny flakes spilled onto the carpet. She grabbed onto the silver drawer for support. The face, so familiar but so unrecognizable, appeared. It's girlish features were twisted with terrible anger. "I'll make you pay!! I'll make you pay!!!" Then, she was gone.   
  
"Who are you?", Michiru screamed. The empty house echoed the words. But there was no answer. "Why are you doing this to me?!"   
  
Michiru's shoulders sagged. Had she really expected an answer? Angrily, she brushed away the fresh tears. With decisiveness, she marched into the music room. Her violin case lay where she had left it last: on the piano bench. She undid the latch and lifted the precious instrument out, taking a moment to run her fingers over the smooth, perfectly worn wood. Instinctively, she tucked the bottom corner between her chin and her shoulder, supporting the handle with her left hand. Her right reached into the case for her bow. Without bothering to resin the horsehair, she placed the bow against the violin's strings, closed her eyes and began to play.   
  
Bach's "Air on the G String" flowed eloquently, but she was not conciously aware of the movements her hands made to play it. She was in the zone....the place where nothing else mattered, just the feel of her fingertips pressing the strings against the wood and her well-toned arm gliding the bow up and down.   
  
"You can't take this from me", she whispered. "You have no power over me here."   
  
The phone rang, snapping her back to reality. With a soft curse, she gently replaced her violin in the case and ran for the kitchen phone. "Moshi, moshi", she answered, a little breathless.   
  
"Meioh Setsuna?", a woman's voice asked.   
  
Michiru balanced the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she reached for the message pad. "She's not here right now. Can I take a message?"   
  
"Are you Kaioh Michiru or Ten'oh Haruka?"   
  
"I'm Kaioh Michiru. Who is this?"   
  
The woman apologized, "Gomen ne. I'm Aikobe Mameha....I teach your...um...daughter, Tomoe Hotaru."  
  
"Ara, hai! Konniti wa. What can I do for you, Aikobe-sensei?"   
  
There was a pause. "I am so sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, Kaioh-san. But there's been...there's been an accident."  
  
**********  
  
Haruka drove through Juuban with extreme caution. The upscale district of Tokyo had a seemingly unending supply of children who tended to dart out into the streets without looking first. The last thing she needed on this day was to run over one of them.   
  
The streetlight ahead of her turned red; she pressed the brake pedal until the car came to a complete stop. Haruka took one hand off the steering wheel and ran it through her hair as she waited.   
  
There was giggling from the sidewalk. She recognized it immediately. A quick look in the rearview mirror confirmed it. Usagi-tachi....incoming. The five girls in their high school uniforms spotted her car right away. Their leader, Tsukino Usagi, the one named Sailor Moon, raised her arm and waved. "Haruka-san!"  
  
Haruka forced a smile onto her lips. "Usagi-chan...Ami, Rei, Minako, Makoto..." She nodded to each girl in turn. "What are you all plotting today?"  
  
Kino Makoto, otherwise known as Sailor Jupiter, crossed her arms. "We never plot anything, Haruka-san. Trouble just finds us naturally."   
  
"It's because we're friends with an Odango Atama", Hino Rei, Sailor Mars continued, sticking her thumb towards Usagi's dumpling-shaped ponytails.   
  
Usagi's fists balled up and her face turned red. "Can it, Rei-chan!!!", she yelled. In return, Rei stuck out her tongue at the future queen.   
  
"Really, you two." Mizuno Ami, Sailor Mercury shook her blue hair in disappointment. "Grow up!"  
  
Aino Minako, the Senshi of Venus, eyed the empty passenger's seat. "Where's Michiru-san?"  
  
Haruka sighed. "At home. I think. Actually, I have no idea where she is." The light changed suddenly; the car behind her honked. "Hold on." Haruka pulled her car up to the curb to let the line of traffic go by.   
  
Rei cocked her head to the side, staring at Haruka intently. Her mood was suddenly serious. "Did you two have a fight?" Haruka's head shot up. "Gomen ne, Haruka-san. It's just a feeling I got...."   
  
The older girl let her shoulders relax. "It's all right, Rei-chan. You're right...as usual. But it wasn't a typical fight. Usually, we just blow up at each other and it's over. But this time...." She closed her mouth quickly, embarrassed to have said so much.   
  
"There's something bothering her", Rei said, closing her eyes.   
  
Haruka turned off the car's engine. "Well, she had some sort of vision last night. It frightened her...but it was gone almost as quickly as it came."   
  
Usagi balanced on one foot, then the other. "Did she tell you what she saw, Haruka-san?"   
  
"A face." Haruka shrugged. "She was pretty vague about it."   
  
Makoto looked at Rei. "Do you see anything more, Rei-chan? About Michiru-san?"   
  
Rei opened her eyes. "Find out what's wrong with her, Haruka-san. I feel that she needs a lot of help....but I don't know why."   
  
The girl's words frustrated Haruka, but she was grateful for the limited insight into the problem. "Arigato, Rei-chan. I will find out what's going on with her."   
  
"In the meantime, why don't you come to the Fruit Parlor with us", Usagi offered. "We're in the mood for chocolate cherry milkshakes!"  
  
"*You're* in the mood for milkshakes", Rei corrected her friend, her pensive mood gone. "We're just going to keep you from eating the Fruit Parlor out of business."   
  
Before Usagi could explode, Haruka's cell phone rang. She reached into her schoolbag and pulled it out. "Moshi, moshi." There was no reply. "Um....is anyone there?" The other girls became quiet.  
  
"Ruka?", the familiar voice of her girlfriend was faint and broken.   
  
"Michi?" Haruka pressed her hand to her other ear, blocking out the noise of the street. "Michi...where are you? I can barely hear you."   
  
There was a pause on the other end. "I'm at the hospital, Ruka."   
  
"The hospital!" Haruka's face paled. "What's wrong, Michi? Are you all right?!"   
  
"Oh no", she heard the girls whisper.   
  
Through the phone line, Michiru began to cry. "It's not me. It's Hime-chan....she's had an accident."  
  
**********  
  
"Paging Uchida-san. Uchida-san, please come to the fourth floor nurses' station."   
  
Michiru paced across the hospital floor, barely aware of the sounds around her. The last thing she could conciously remember doing was picking up the phone and calling Haruka. After that, everything was just noise.   
  
She was aware of someone approaching her. It wasn't until she felt the strong hand of her girlfriend gripping her shoulder that she acknowledged it. "Haruka", she whispered. Her knees gave out and she fell against the girl.  
  
"I'm here, Michi", Haruka soothed, breathing heavily. Not patient enough to wait for the elevator, she had run up all four flights of stairs. "I think I ran every stop light....." She pulled Michiru away from her shoulder. "What happened? Where's Hime-chan?"   
  
Michiru's eyes flooded with tears. "In there..." She pointed to the room across the hall. "She fell...she fell into..." The Senshi of Neptune broke into tears, but pulled away when Haruka reached for her again.   
  
"Kaioh-san?" A young nurse approached them, carrying a clipboard. Michiru was unable to reply.  
  
Haruka cleared her throat. "I'm Ten'oh Haruka...Hotaru's guardian. Please tell me what's going on."   
  
The nurse looked her up and down. "Hotaru had a rather nasty fall into one of the zoo's reflection pools. She hit her head on the concrete wall and it knocked her unconcious, but fortunately there were plenty of people around to get her out. She's just in there, resting. You can go in, if you'd like." The nurse pointed to the room.  
  
"She's going to be all right, then?", Haruka asked.   
  
"Absolutely. The doctor wants to keep her overnight for observation, but she can go home tomorrow." The nurse smiled. "Really, she was very fortunate."   
  
Haruka nodded. "Hai. Um...arigato." The nurse moved off down the hallway. "Ara....what a day, ne?" She laughed with relief.   
  
Michiru looked up at her, strangely. "Hime-chan could have died, Haruka."   
  
"Michi-ko....she's going to be fine. You heard the nurse. There were lots of people around; she probably wasn't even underwater for more than a few seconds."   
  
"Underwater...", Michiru whispered. "No....oh, no....."   
  
Just then, Setsuna appeared from around the corner. Her cheeks were pink and as she came to a stop, she paused to catch her breath. "I came as soon as you called, Michi-chan. Is she all right?"   
  
"She's fine. She has to stay overnight, but it was just a bump to her head", Haruka filled the older girl in.   
  
Setsuna put a hand to her chest. "Thank goodness. The way Michi-chan sounded on the phone...I thought it was a lot worse!"   
  
Michiru lifted her head. "I was scared", she defended herself. Her eyes narrowed. "You haven't seen her; she looks so little in that bed....." And it's all my fault, she added silently.   
  
"I didn't mean....." Setsuna trailed off. "Gomen ne, Michi-chan...that's not what I..." She looked to Haruka for help.  
  
Haruka gave her a sympathetic shrug. "Um...why don't we all go in to see Hime-chan? I bet she'd like that."   
  
Setsuna nodded. "Hai...she would."   
  
"You two go. I'm going home." Michiru wiped under her eyes with the back of her hand.   
  
Her fellow Outer Senshi exchanged a look. "Are you sure you want to be alone, Michi?", Haruka asked, as gently as possible. Instinctively, one hand reached for her girlfriend.  
  
Michiru recoiled from it. "I'm perfectly capable of being alone for an evening, Haruka. I need some time to...think. I can't think when..." She stopped.  
  
Haruka's voice was hard. "You can't think when what?"  
  
"I can't think when you're around."   
  
There was a long pause. Michiru stared at the floor. She could feel Haruka's hurt; she didn't even have to see her face.  
  
"All right", Haruka eventually said. She struggled to keep her voice even. "Go then."   
  
Without looking up, Michiru picked up her shoulder bag and ran for the elevator.   
  
As soon as the sea-haired girl was out of earshot, Setsuna put a comforting hand on Haruka's arm. "She's just upset about Hime-chan. Give her a little time and everything will be all right."   
  
Haruka let out a bitter chuckle. "I wish it was that simple, Setsuna. I really wish it was."   
  
What she didn't voice as they headed into Hotaru's room was her fear that her girlfriend might be losing her mind.   
  
***********  
  
Michiru returned to an empty house once again. As soon as she cleared the front door's threshold, she turned, slammed the door shut, threw the deadbolt and let her sobs take over her body. One fist pounded the white wood; her forehead pressed against the glass.   
  
"Kami-sama", she screamed. "Why are you doing this?? What did I do to deserve this?" Silence answered her. "Tell me!!!! Tell me who you are!!!" Her throat constricted, bringing her down to a whisper. "Tell me why you went after Hotaru...."   
  
"You know why..." The voice was suddenly all around her, but somehow only in her head.   
  
Michiru spun around. "Who are you?" She paused. "Where are you?"  
  
"You know who I am, Sailor Neptune. You can't have forgotten me."   
  
"Sailor Neptune", Michiru whispered. Her jaw clenched. "I know everyone who knows me by that name. And none of them..." Her own voice gave out once more under the weight of raw emotion. "None of them are capable of...this!!"   
  
There was a long, dangerous pause. "You have forgotten me." The girlish voice was deadly calm. "I should have guessed you would, Sailor Neptune. The elegant Sailor Senshi. The graceful guardian." It laughed, cruelly. "The cold-hearted bitch."   
  
Michiru slipped to her knees. "I'm not....I'm not", she repeated again and again, tears flowing freely. "Leave me alone....please.....please..."  
  
"I can't." There was no regret in the words. Just pure enjoyment. "Not until you pay." Michiru pressed her hands to her ears as the voice continued. "And if I can't get to you.....I'll get them."  
  
Michiru shakily rose to her feet and pressed her back against the front door. "You can't!", she yelled to empty foyer. "I won't let you."   
  
"What could you possibly do to stop me, Sailor Neptune?" The voice bounced off the walls. "Why don't you just give up now?"   
  
Michiru's hand slipped into her shoulder bag. "You really don't know anything about me." With one fluid sweep, she pulled out her henshin wand and held it high over her head. "Neptune Planet Power...Make-Up!!", she cried.   
  
Moments later, the transformation was complete. In her Sailor Senshi fuku, her confidence returned. She put her hands on her hips. "I don't give up. Especially not when my family is on the line."   
  
The voice laughed. "What are you going to do? Blast me again?"   
  
"Again? What do you mean....?"   
  
"All right then...if you want to play it that way." Before her eyes, a little girl appeared, surrounded by a faint, yellow glow. She seemed to be around fourteen years old; she wore a school uniform. When she lifted her head, Sailor Neptune could see her eyes. They were black...bottomless. The girl's lips twisted up. "Take your best shot."   
  
Neptune shook her head. "I won't. This ends now. Tell me who you are and why you're doing this to me and my family."   
  
The girl disappeared. Less than a second later, a tremendous force pushed Neptune from behind, sending her stumbling forward. She regained her footing and turned around. The girl floated a foot off the ground, her body framed by the front door. "Come on, Sailor Neptune. You know you want to..."   
  
"No." Neptune held her ground.   
  
The girl raised one little arm. With a pointed finger, she sent a yellow beam of energy straight for Neptune. Quickly, the Sailor Senshi jumped out of the way and landed at the base of the stairs. "We can go on like this for as long as you want", the girl smiled.   
  
Neptune took a breath and raised her arms over her head. "DEEP SUBMERGE!!!"  
  
Before the ball of blue water energy reached its target, the girl disappeared again. The front door exploded instead, leaving a huge, jagged gap in the wall.   
  
She reappeared in front of the door to the pool. "Wouldn't you like to take a swim, Sailor Neptune? Just a little swim...."   
  
Neptune felt her body go limp. Everything around her became hazy, as though her mind were covered with a dense blanket of fog. "A swim", she heard herself say. "A swim....would be nice...."   
  
**********  
  
"Haruka!"   
  
The sandy-haired girl woke with a start. "Michi? What's going on?"  
  
"It's me, Haruka-chan." Setsuna's face looked down at her, happily. "You've been dozing for a few minutes." She smiled brightly. "Hime-chan's awake."  
  
Haruka sat up in the hard hospital chair. "Hime-chan." She stood and walked over to the bed. "How are you feeling?"  
  
The little girl smiled weakly. "I'm okay, Haruka-papa. My head hurts."   
  
"I bet it does. You had a pretty bad fall." Haruka leaned down and tucked a lock of black hair behind Hotaru's ear. "Took an unexpected dip in the zoo's reflection pool."  
  
"Haruka-papa...I didn't fall."   
  
"It's okay, sweetie." Setsuna took her hand. "It was an accident."   
  
Hotaru's little face became serious. "I didn't fall", she repeated. "Someone pushed me."   
  
Haruka's brow furred. "What do you mean?"  
  
"Did one of your classmates push you, Hime-chan?", Setsuna asked.  
  
"No, Setsuna-mama. It wasn't one of my friends." Hotaru's wide, purple eyes blinked several times. "I don't know who it was. But it was bad."   
  
"Bad? The person who pushed you was bad?" Haruka leaned forward on the bed's armrails.   
  
"I don't think it was a person, Haruka-papa. But...." She stopped.  
  
"But what?", Setsuna prompted.   
  
Hotaru took a breath. "It talked to me."   
  
"What did it say?", Haruka asked.   
  
There was a long pause. "It said....'wouldn't you like to take a swim?'"   
  
**********  
  
"Rei-chan, I don't see why you've dragged us out here when they're all probably still at the hospital." Usagi crossed her arms and slumped down further into the passenger's seat of Chiba Mamoru's car.   
  
Mamoru took his eyes off the road and looked at his young girlfriend. His future wife. "You heard Rei-chan explain why, Usa-ko."   
  
"That doesn't mean I understand it, Mamo-chan."   
  
Rei stuck her head between the two front seats. "I can't shake this feeling! We have to get to their house now!" She paused. "Can't you go any faster, Mamoru-san?"   
  
The dark-haired man took one hand off the wheel, raising it helplessly into the air. "I can't control the speed of the car in front of us, Rei-chan."   
  
Makoto pushed Rei's elbow off its balancing position on her thigh. "Mamoru-san, take your time. I'd rather we get there in one piece."   
  
"Thank you, Mako-chan", he replied, smiling at the tall girl through the rear-view mirror. In her seat, Usagi scowled.   
  
Rei sighed and tossed her long mass of straight, jet black hair over her shoulder. "We just need to get there as soon as we can."  
  
"We will. And watch where you're tossing that stuff." Makoto fended off the long strands of hair that invaded her side of the seat.   
  
Mamoru chuckled as he turned the car into the wide driveway that led to the Outer Senshi's mansion. As the car approached the house, Usagi sat straight up. "Mamo-chan", she whispered.   
  
Her boyfriend slammed his foot into the brake pedal and screeched to a halt. "Kuso", he whispered under his breath.   
  
Makoto opened her door and quickly climbed out of the car. "The front door", she said aloud. "It's.."  
  
"Gone", Mamoru finished, flinging the driver's door open.   
  
Rei and Usagi joined them from the other side of the car. "We have to go inside", Rei announced. She started for the house, but Mamoru held her back.   
  
"Let me go first to check it out", he said.   
  
Usagi gripped his arm. "Mamo-chan..."  
  
He gently pried her away. "I'll be right back, Usa-ko." With no hesitancy, he ran to the house and disappeared into the torn hole that had once been a door. After a few minutes, he yelled, "It's all right." The three girls follwed his path and gingerly climbed over the rubble until they were standing inside the foyer. "It's just this spot that's been hit", Mamoru informed them. "Everything else is all right, as far as I can tell."   
  
Usagi reclaimed her grip on his arm. "But what hit it, Mamo-chan?"   
  
"I have no idea. I guess it's a good thing they're all at the hospital."   
  
Makoto kneeled down and picked up a piece of the wall. "We should call them and tell them what happened."   
  
"Minna...." Rei caught their attention. "There's someone here..."   
  
"Who?", Usagi asked. "Where?"   
  
Rei closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. "They're nearby....I can't...." Her eyes popped open. "We have to find her."   
  
"Who?!", Usagi repeated loudly.   
  
But Rei had already taken off towards the dining room. "Spread out", she called over her shoulder.   
  
The remaining three exchanged a look before obeying, each taking a different direction. The house was quiet for a long moment, save for the padding of feet on carpet and wood.   
  
Mamoru's voice broke the silence. "Kami-sama", he cried out, his voice muffled by space.   
  
The girls gathered in the foyer again. "Where is he?" Usagi was frantic.   
  
Makoto pointed to a door. "I think it's coming from there." With her friends on her heels, the Senshi of Jupiter ran to it and flung it open. The pungent scent of chlorine hit them as they ran into the pool area. What they saw made their stomachs drop.   
  
Sailor Neptune floated face down in the pool like a discarded rag doll. Her aquamarine hair spread around her, blending with the tiles and the water. Against all that blue, the white of her fuku and her skin stood out with frightening clarity. She wasn't moving, except with the pool's current.   
  
"Neptune!!", Usagi cried out of habit. "Michiru-san!"   
  
Her boyfriend was one step ahead of them. He whipped off his sports jacket and dove into the water. When he surfaced again, he covered the distance to the middle of the pool with quick strokes until he reached the fallen Senshi. One arm snaked around her slender waist, hauling her face out of the water. "Michiru-san", he yelled as he flipped her body over. Her eyes were closed; her lips were edged in blue.   
  
Rei kneeled down at the pool's edge. "Oh, please say we're not too late!", she cried.   
  
Mamoru pushed his way through the water, his arms securely supporting Neptune's limp body. When he reached the side of the pool, Rei and Makoto helped him lay her down onto the tiles. He climbed out and automatically straddled the unconscious girl, pressing his ear to the bow on her chest. "She's not breathing. Usa-ko....call an ambulance."   
  
"And Haruka-san!", Makoto called out as the blond girl ran for the phone. "Do you know CPR, Mamoru-san?"  
  
The older man nodded. "I took a class a few years ago..." He pulled on her nose and chin, opening her mouth. He then lowered his lips to hers, blowing several short, powerful breaths. After a moment, he straightened up and pressed the heel of his palm into her chest. "Iti...ni...san..."   
  
A memory came to him. A junkyard....a vacuum cleaner daimon with his friend's heart crystal....Sailor Neptune hitting him with near enjoyment in her eye....so determined to keep what might have been certain heart crystal away from Sailor Moon....  
  
He shook his head. That was years ago. The woman who lay dying underneath him was not that same girl. She was his friend. His girlfriend's protector. Their past and future kingdom's guardian....  
  
Mamoru pressed his mouth to Neptune's and repeated the process. "Iti...ni...san..."  
  
"Is it working?", Rei asked.   
  
He straightened up again. "Not yet." Once more, he blew his breath into Neptune. Just as he pulled his lips away from hers, she coughed, spitting out a lungful of pool water. Her back arched and fell with each life-retrieving gasp for air. Mamoru grinned and moved off of her. "I think that time it worked." Neptune's eyes remained closed; her body lay limp with exhaustion.   
  
Usagi skidded back into the pool area. "They're here!!", she announced.   
  
"Who?" Makoto peeled soaked curls of sea-green hair off of Neptune's cheeks and forehead.   
  
"Haruka-san and Setsuna-san! I went to make the calls, but then I saw their car pulling up!!"   
  
"Who's there?" Haruka's voice called out from the foyer. "Answer me!"  
  
Rei took a breath. "It's us, Haruka-san. Come quickly!!!"   
  
The two Outer Senshi burst into the room, their shoes clacking on the tiles. "Michiru!!!", Haruka cried, running around the edge of the pool until she reached her girlfriend's body. Rei moved to let her kneel next to Neptune. "What happened?"   
  
"Rei-chan had a feeling....so, we came by here. She was floating in the pool", Mamoru told her. He ran a hand through his wet hair. "It looked bad, but she's breathing now."   
  
Setsuna clasped her hands to her heart. "Kami-sama...what if you all hadn't come by? She could have...."  
  
Haruka gathered her girlfriend into her arms. "Michi-ko....Michi, open your eyes....please...." Neptune coughed again. "What the hell could have happened?", she asked herself out loud.   
  
"Maybe something attacked her." Usagi gratefully accepted Mamoru's arm around her shoulders. "It could have come in through the front door and then chased her to the pool."   
  
"But...", Haruka touched Neptune's tiara. "She's transformed. She had time to transform."   
  
"Well", Makoto stood up. "She certainly didn't just slip and fall in. Michiru-san is the Senshi of the Sea. Her drowning would be like me getting hit by lightning."   
  
Haruka's head slowly rose. "If it wasn't an accident, then maybe...." She looked at Setsuna. "Maybe she did it on purpose."   
  
Rei's mouth fell open. After a moment, she closed it, decisiveness in her eyes. "You don't mean that, Haruka-san. Michiru-san would never try to kill herself; she's no quitter."   
  
Setsuna kneeled on the tiles. It was as if she had no more will to stand. "We think....we think there's something very wrong with her, Rei-chan. She won't talk to us..."  
  
"She's shut us out", Haruka continued, relaxing her hold on Neptune. "She doesn't even want to be around us."   
  
"And with Hime-chan's close call today...." Setsuna sighed. "We don't know what to think right now."   
  
Michiru coughed just then. "Haruka", she whispered. Her eyes fluttered open.   
  
Haruka swallowed heavily. "It's going to be all right, Michi." The water-logged girl reached one hand up to her, but she grasped it and guided it back down to her side, stiffly. "Just...stay still."   
  
"Haruka..." Tears joined the pool water on her cheeks. "I....I'm..."   
  
Her girlfriend quickly looked up at Mamoru. "Can you carry her upstairs, Mamoru-san? Put her into bed and I'll be right there."   
  
He hesitated, but then nodded. "Come on, Michiru-san." He bent down and scooped her up.   
  
"Haruka", she cried quietly. "Haruka."   
  
"You're going to be fine, Michiru." Her eyes failed to meet her girlfriend's, focusing instead on the blue-green tiles. Mamoru waited a moment before walking out of the pool area, careful on the slippery floor. Usagi and Makoto followed him out.  
  
Setsuna sighed. "I can't even imagine what's going through your mind right now, Haruka-chan. But whatever it is, you've got to know that she wouldn't do this to hurt you."   
  
"Then why did she do it?" Haruka's voice was dull.   
  
Rei kneeled next to her. "Maybe she didn't do it all, Haruka-san." There was a pause. "What happened to Hotaru-chan?"  
  
"She...she fell into a...um...reflection pool. At the zoo."   
  
"And you don't think that's a bit of a coincidence, Haruka-san?", Rei ventured to ask.   
  
The older girl laughed ironically. "My girlfriend is a fish in the water, Rei-chan. A fish. Fish don't accidently drown. Even if they fall in."   
  
Rei sighed and stood up. "I don't know. I just know what I feel. And I don't feel that Michiru-san tried to kill herself."   
  
"Arigato." Haruka rose to her feet as well. "But I just know what I see. And from what I see, she tried to kill herself." She shrugged. "It's the only explanation for everything. The sudden withdrawal, the melancholy, the visions..."   
  
"Visions?" Rei's forehead crinkled.  
  
"Don't think that drawing this conclusion makes us happy, Rei-chan." Setsuna joined them standing up. "But if she needs help of any kind in order to get better, we want to be there for her with that help. And acknowledging that she *needs* the help is the first step."   
  
Rei shook her head. "I just don't know." Haruka and Setsuna walked back into the main house, leaving Rei alone by the pool. "But I'm going to find out."   
  
*********  
  
It was dark when Michiru opened her eyes again. She was lying in bed, covered by a thick blanket. A flash of lightning briefly illuminated the room; there was a storm raging outside.   
  
"Haruka?", she called out. There was no answer. She sat up in bed and put a hand to her chest. Someone had stripped off her senshi fuku and re-dressed her in a white raw silk nightdress. Haruka, she presumed. And hoped. The last clear memory she had after the battle with the girlish apparition, however, was of Mamoru carrying her up the stairs.   
  
"I must have...blacked out." She pushed the blanket off her legs and swung them over the side of the bed. Soft carpet touched her cold toes. The room was deadly quiet. It unnerved her. She stood up, shakily.   
  
"Ruka-chan? Setsuna?" Michiru called out as soon as she got into the hallway. Still, no one replied. Had they left her alone and returned to the hospital to be with Hime-chan? She hoped they hadn't....at least not Haruka. She had the overwhelming urge to be held by her girlfriend.   
  
With one hand firmly grasping the banister, she limped down the wide staircase. Her whole body felt stiff, as though it had been through the proverbial wringer. But her memories were still hazy. She couldn't recall exactly what had happened to bring her to this time and place. Perhaps if Haruka or Setsuna were home, they could help her to remember.   
  
"Ruka?", she hopefully called out again. Stepping into the foyer, she was careful to avoid the rubble of the front door. Several large pieces of plywood covered the gaping hole to protect the house from any intruders, and inadvertantly, from the rain and wind; no doubt the handiwork of Mamoru and Haruka. "Ruka....are you here?"   
  
"I'm in here." Her girlfriend's throaty voice called to her from the music room.   
  
A smile spread onto Michiru's face for the first time that day. "Haruka!" She gathered the skirt of her nightdress in her hand, lifting the hem off the ground, and ran towards her girlfriend's voice.   
  
Haruka sat on the piano bench. Her fingers rested on the wooden cover that hid the ivory and ebony keys. She stared straight at the wall, not even turning her head when Michiru called her name again. "Ruka?"  
  
"I was wondering when you would decide to wake up."   
  
"Ruka-chan? Are you all right?"   
  
The taller girl laughed softly. "I find that comment funny coming from you."  
  
Michiru's smile fell. "What do you mean, Ruka?"  
  
"Am *I* all right? You're the one who just tried to kill yourself." Haruka swung her body around until she faced the opposite direction and Michiru could see her face. A tiny hint of a grin played on her lips.   
  
"I...I didn't..." Hot tears flooded Michiru's eyes. "How can you...say that, Haruka?"   
  
A bolt of lightning struck a few miles off, followed by the low grumble of thunder. "It's the truth, isn't it? And don't we always tell each other the truth?"   
  
Michiru double blinked. "You can't...you can't believe that I would..."  
  
"Oh, but I do." Haruka stood up and placed her hands in her pockets, calmly. "It's completely in your character. Only someone with a soul as cold as the bottom of the ocean could do that to her family. To the people she's supposed to protect."   
  
"Do that?", Michiru whispered.  
  
"Try to drown yourself. Leaving us to pick up the pieces. It's selfish and cruel and..." She took a step towards her girlfriend. "Something you're completely capable of doing." Another flash of lightning accented her words.  
  
The tears spilled down Michiru's cheeks in a steady stream. "Why, Haruka? Why are you saying these...things to me?"   
  
"Someone has to. You have to know what we all think of you now." Haruka took another step foward. Her eyes gleamed. "You've gone crazy."   
  
"You don't mean that...do you?" Her girlfriend shrugged carelessly. "Ruka...you love me! You know me better than anyone else in the world. I would never leave you on purpose! I wouldn't ever hurt you that way." She crossed her wrists over her heart, pressing them into her chest.   
  
Haruka lifted her hands from her pockets. "Love you? How could I love you? There's nothing there to love. Just a bottomless pool of frigid ocean water where a heart should be."  
  
"No...no....you're not...saying that...." Michiru covered her face with her hands. "I won't believe that you're saying that....."   
  
"Deep down, you know it's true. Otherwise it wouldn't bother you so much to hear it." Haruka folded her arms smugly.   
  
Michiru lowered her hands. Her eyes were red-rimmed; her lower lip quivered. "Haruka....I love you."   
  
"You're not capable of love." Haruka smiled sweetly. "Hell...if you want the truth, neither of us are. It's what makes us such good senshi. We fight, we kill, we get the job done with no thought for anyone else. Duty and sacrifice above compassion and emotion, right?" Her smile faded. "Right??!"   
  
"No....never...." Michiru's heart ached. She rubbed her throat to keep breathing. "Please, Haruka......please..."  
  
"Please, what? 'Please stop telling me the truth about myself, Ruka-chan?'" Haruka snorted softly. "If you can't take it anymore, then leave." She pointed to the foyer. "Go. It's not like you're really needed here in the state you're in."   
  
"Haruka...."  
  
"Go!"  
  
Michiru stared at her, her vision blurry with overflowing tears. Never had she imagined Haruka capable of this. Perhaps it was the truth....perhaps it was better to hear it from the woman she loved, rather than from a stranger later in life..... She took a step backwards, nearly tripping on the trailing hem of her nightdress.   
  
"I'm going", she whispered. "I'm going."   
  
Haruka didn't respond. Her face was deathly still. Jaw locked, lips twisted....eyes steady and hard. Michiru reached one hand out to her girlfriend. After only a second, she let it fall back down to her side. She turned on her bare heel and ran.  
  
The Senshi of Uranus stood in that same position for several long minutes. Long after Michiru had disappeared into the storm. Then, her body simply gave out. Her eyes rolled back and she dropped to the hard wood. A second passed.  
  
Haruka's eyes popped open. She lifted her head from the music room floor as lightning struck in the distance.   
  
"Where the hell am I?"   
  
*********  
  
"Fire, air, earth, water....sun, moon, stars, spirit....fire, air, earth, water..." Rei's fingers flew, positioning and repositioning themselves to make the signs that corresponded with her chant. Her eyes were open, unblinking...staring into the high flames of the fire she had built in the inner temple. "I am flame, flame is light....I am fire, fire is sight....I am flame, flame is light....I am fire, fire is sight...."  
  
Her body ached from sitting on her knees for hours, but she kept on. "Fire, air, earth, water....." On that final word, a picture began to form within the flames.   
  
**A young girl, walking in the park...a youma appears...it's after the girl...Sailor Neptune, alone, without Sailor Uranus....the attack....DEEP SUBMERGE!!...it's too much....the girl can't move in time....GET OUT OF THE WAY!!....it's too late...it's too late....it's too late.....**  
  
Rei's back curved; her chin touched the V-neck opening of her temple kimono. "Michiru-san", she whispered. "Oh, Michiru-san....you should have told her....you shouldn't have kept this a secret...."   
  
She rocked back onto the balls of her feet and stood. Without bothering to extinguish the fire, she ran back into the residence of her grandfather's temple. She reached for the phone and quickly dialed a number.  
  
*********  
  
Haruka picked herself up off the floor. Her head felt strangely full. She shook it as though it would naturally clear itself. But the heavy feeling stayed with her.   
  
"This whole thing is taking more out of me than I thought." She brushed off the front of her pants. "I've never fainted in my life."   
  
The sounds of rainfall from outside puzzled her. Had it even been cloudy as she and Setsuna had driven home from the hospital? She couldn't remember. She supposed the weather hadn't really been all that important to her at the time. Getting home had been her focus. Getting home to see...  
  
"Michiru", she finished her thought out loud. A clap of thunder. "Michiru."   
  
The ringing of the telephone reverberated throughout the house. She waited a minute, to see if anyone else would answer it. Setsuna had probably returned to the hospital, but if Michiru was awake, she would; Michiru always liked to be the first to answer the phone. It was usually for her, anyway.   
  
Another ring. And then another. Michiru must still be asleep. And after all her girlfriend had been through, Haruka was glad her slumber was deep. With one hand clutching her throbbing head, Haruka ran for the kitchen phone.   
  
"Moshi, moshi?"   
  
"Haruka-san?"   
  
"Rei-chan?"   
  
The younger girl took a deep breath. "Where's Michiru-san, Haruka-san?"   
  
"She's upstairs, resting." Haruka switched the reciever to her other ear. "Is something wrong, Rei-chan?"   
  
"She didn't try to kill herself, Haruka-san. She's not crazy. Those visions....they're very real. Something from her past is haunting her. Something she's never told anyone about...not even you. Maybe she's even managed to block it from her own memories, but it's real. And it's killing her inside." Rei spoke rapidly, but her words carried a heavy load.   
  
Haruka swallowed, her throat sticking ever so slightly. "You're scaring me, Rei-chan. Maybe you had just better start over again from the top."  
  
"There's not time, Haruka-san!! She needs you right now more than ever! You can't hesitate or you could lose her forever!!"   
  
"Rei-chan, I told you. She's upstairs in bed. She's safe."   
  
"No." Haruka could almost see Rei shaking her dark head solemnly. "I don't think she is."   
  
"You don't think she's safe with me?"   
  
"I don't think she's there with you."   
  
Haruka's eyes strayed to the foyer and the bit of staircase she could see through the dining room door. "Michiru", she whispered. The phone fell out of her hand and hit the ground, pulled back up again by the stretch of the winded cord. But Haruka didn't see it; she was already halfway up the staircase.   
  
"Michiru", she yelled. "Michi!!" She burst into their room. Their bed was empty; a blanket lay twisted on top of the comforter. Haruka ran for the bathroom door, throwing it open with all her might. It, too, was empty. "Michiru!!!"  
  
She stumbled back down the staircase and into the kitchen. The phone dangled by its cord. She kneeled and took it into her hand, pressing the receiver back to her ear. "Michi's gone", she flatly stated.   
  
"I know", Rei replied. "We have to find her, Haruka-san."   
  
"She's gone", Haruka repeated, pulling her knees out from under her and drawing them up to her chin.   
  
"Where would she go, Haruka-san? Where would she run to?"  
  
*********  
  
The peak of the cliff stood fifty-five feet over the crashing surf. Fueled by the wind and rain, the dark gray water below it churned and crashed dangerously right up to the edge of the massive rocks, sending up regular sprays of white foam.   
  
But to the girl who stood at the very edge looking down, the colors and patterns, the singular power of the ocean held no particular fascination. She had spent so much of her life studying it, drawing it, swimming in it, taking comfort in it.   
  
Tonight, she would be a part of it.  
  
*********  
  
The Senshi of Mars waited at the base of the seemingly endless stone steps that led to her family's Shinto shrine. She was huddled under a red umbrella, but her priestess kimono was, nonetheless, soaked.   
  
Haruka pulled her car up as close to the curb as possible and leaned across the passenger's seat to push the door open. Rei quickly slid in, closed her umbrella and shut the door behind her. Haruka took off again, ignoring the danger of the wet streets.   
  
After several long minutes, Rei felt the older girl alternately concentrating on the road and studying her intently. She folded her hands across the soggy cotton of her kimono. "It's going to be all right", she said, reassuringly. "I've done this before."   
  
Haruka gripped the steering wheel a little tighter as they rounded a curve in the road. "I just want you to be sure, Rei-chan."   
  
"Trust me, Haruka-san. You take me to Michiru-san and I'll take care of the rest."   
  
"All right", Haruka nodded reluctantly. She hesitated. "There's only one place in the world that I know Michiru would go to. It's her sanctuary."   
  
Rei's reply was quiet. "I hope we get there in time."  
  
********  
  
Her toes were cold. It was funny; she was standing in the pouring rain and the biting wind with only a fall of flimsy silk covering her body, yet only her toes bothered her. She had read somewhere that people born under the planet Neptune, Pisceans, were particuraly in tune with their feet. And it was true that Haruka could triumph in any tickle match she instigated simply by lightly brushing the soles of her feet.   
  
"Haruka", she whispered to the swirling water far below her. Tears she thought had dried up resurfaced. Her wet arms hugged her body as her girlfriend's words echoed in her ears. They had been so calculated, so deliberate.....so painful.   
  
"But she was right....wasn't she?" The now familiar voice resounded in her head.   
  
Michiru closed her eyes. "What more do you want from me?", she asked, wearily.   
  
The girl materialized next to her. Her figure was unaffected by the storm that raged around them. She looked up at Michiru with contentment. "Are you going to do it?"   
  
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"   
  
The girl shrugged. "You brought all of this onto yourself, Sailor Neptune. So, go ahead and do it if you want to. It's not as though you have much left to live for."   
  
Michiru smiled sadly. "That is true." Her eyes slowly opened, blinking back the rain that fell into them. "Whatever I did to deserve this....it must have been terrible."   
  
She didn't hear a reply for a long time. "What are you waiting for, Sailor Neptune?"   
  
"I don't know." Michiru's toes crept closer to the edge of the rock. "Haruka used to tell me....she used to tell me that she'd never let me fall. After Kaolinite pushed me into that waterfall......she said she'd never let me fall again." She took another tiny step forward. "She said she almost died inside...."   
  
"You are dead inside, Sailor Neptune."   
  
"I am dead inside." Another step forward. The wind picked up; stinging sheets of rain hit her body. "I am dead inside", she repeated. Her voice was drowned out by the sounds of the storm.   
  
Then, there was a new noise. A familiar noise. The hum of an engine....tires on slick road screeching to a halt. A car door slammed. Then another. Her name was being called.   
  
And although she recognized the new voice beyond a shadow of a doubt, she took another step forward. Her toes curled over the very edge of the cliff. It was too late to turn back now.   
  
********  
  
Haruka stood in agape horror. Her mind raced, yet failed to produce a single logical or coherent thought. All she could do was repeat Michiru's name, screaming it into the wind...hoping that it would reach through to her.   
  
"Michiru!", she cried. "Michiru!!!" Her girlfriend gave no sign that she heard her.   
  
Rei came around to her side of the car and grabbed her arm. "Stay right here, Haruka-san. Please don't try anything until I've talked to her."   
  
Haruka blinked and looked down at the young girl. "Can't you see her, Rei-chan? She's standing on the edge of a cliff!! She's not thinking straight....she could just step off....and then all the talking in the world wouldn't bring her back to me again." Haruka brushed her wet bangs off her forehead in frustration.   
  
"I told you that you'd have to trust me." Rei waited patiently for Haruka's nod. "Stay here."  
  
The Senshi of Mars approached the Senshi of Neptune as a zookeeper does a frightened animal. She need not have taken as great care as she did, however; Michiru hardly seemed to notice her until she was only a few feet away from the cliff's edge.   
  
"Michiru-san", she began. "It's Rei."   
  
Her reply was carried by the wind. "Rei-chan....you shouldn't be here, Rei-chan."   
  
"We're very worried about you, Michiru-san." Rei hesitated. "We know there's something going on....and we want to help you."   
  
Michiru shook her head, flinging drops of water from the ends of her wet hair. "You can't help me....and why would you want to even if you could? I'm a cruel bitch with an ice-water heart."  
  
Behind her, Rei could hear Haruka's sharp intake of breath. She held up a hand, signaling to the older girl to stay where she was. "No one believes that of you, Michiru-san. What could ever give you the idea that we do?"  
  
Michiru shrugged; her shoulder blades protruded through the soaked white silk that clung to every curve of her body.   
  
Rei spoke clearly and calmly. "Is it the girl?"   
  
Michiru's head slowly turned around. Haruka could see the pain and confusion in her girlfriend's deep blue eyes, even from so far away. On the horizon, there was a flash of lightning. "You can see her too?" Her voice was barely audible through the storm.   
  
"Well...I believe that you can see her, Michiru-san", Rei said after a moment's hesitation. "But I know who she is....I know why she's here."   
  
"How can you know that, Rei-chan?" Michiru's body turned as well until she faced them. To Haruka's relief, she took an unconcious step forward, away from the rock's edge. "*I* don't even know who she is!!" She covered her face with her hands. "I don't why she's doing this to me!!"  
  
"Why can't you remember?" The words were a whisper in her ear. "I could end all of this if you would just remember!!"   
  
Michiru lowered her hands. "I can't!!", she screamed. "I CAN'T!!! Leave me alone....PLEASE!!!" She moved back again.   
  
Instinctively, Haruka stepped forward, but once more Rei signaled her back. "Kuso!", she cursed, balling up her fist and slamming it down onto the hood of her car.   
  
"I won't leave you alone, Michiru-san", Rei said. "I wouldn't be a very good friend if I did that."  
  
"Not you, Rei-chan." Michiru shivered. "Her."  
  
"I won't leave you alone either, Sailor Neptune." The girl touched her arm; Michiru visibly recoiled. "Just one more little step backwards though, and I'll go away forever."   
  
Michiru's voice was soft, but Haruka heard it clearly. "Just a step backwards...." She lifted one foot, poised to move it back.  
  
"NO!!!", Haruka screamed. Ignoring Rei, she took off towards her girlfriend. But before she could even reach the rocks, something happened to Michiru. Her body convulsed as if she were in pain. She threw her head back and her spine arched. Her arms whipped wildly about. Then, almost as soon as it started, it was over. "Michiru?", Haruka whispered.  
  
Slowly, Michiru's head lifted. Her eyes were empty and vacant, yet somehow they glimmered with evil intention. Two voices spoke together, one girlish and high pitched; the other was Michiru's, achingly familiar to Haruka. "Sailor Neptune isn't here right now....."   
  
Haruka clentched her teeth. "Who are you and what are you doing to my girlfriend?"   
  
"Maybe you should be asking what your girlfriend did to bring this upon herself."   
  
Rei came to Haruka's side. "I know what she did. And I know how you must feel. But you have to understand that it was an accident. You have to let go of this hatred and you have and forgive Sailor Neptune."   
  
"You know how I must feel?!" The younger voice coming from Michiru's mouth hardened. "You couldn't possibly know how I feel!!! Was your life cut short by someone's carelessness? And have you ever been forgotten as though that life was nothing to the person who took it??"  
  
"What's going on, Rei-chan?" Haruka was reaching her boiling point. For reasons she couldn't fathom, there was an entity in the woman she loved, controlling her....and as far as she could tell, there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it. She was helpless and she despised it.   
  
The dark haired girl slowly shook her head. "I can't say, Haruka-san. It's not my place to...."  
  
"Haruka?" The sound of Michiru's voice, separate and distinct, drew both girls' attention back to the woman at the edge of the cliff. The blue eyes that were empty seconds before were now full of emotion. Her arm reached for them, desperately. "Haruka...help me....please."   
  
"Michiru? Michiru, I'm trying....I'm...." But as soon as Michiru had regained control over her body, she lost it once again.   
  
"I thought I had eliminated you from the equation." The comment was very obviously directed to Haruka. "You aren't supposed to be here for her; I made sure you wouldn't want to be."   
  
Haruka blinked in rapid succession. "What do you mean?"   
  
"I think the most amusing part was that you actually believed she tried to kill herself. And that the little girl simply fell into the reflection pool. You never even questioned it; you just automatically assumed the worst." Michiru laughed.   
  
"You did that to her...to them both? You wanted me to believe that she...." Haruka's eyes narrowed dangerously. "That's it. No more of this." From her pocket, she withdrew her henshin wand. "Uranus Planet Power....Make-Up!!" When her transformation was complete, she addressed the entity again. "What kind of...thing are you?"   
  
Another crash of thunder accented Michiru's next words. "The kind of *thing* that has complete control over this senshi body."  
  
Rei folded her arms over her kimono. "I don't believe you'll hurt Michiru-san. What could you possibly gain from it?"  
  
"Perhaps I'm tired of waiting for the bitch to remember me. Perhaps I've decided now is the time to take my revenge." She looked over her shoulder. "It's such a long way down." Her gaze returned to Sailor Uranus. "She'll never even feel a thing.....unfortunately."   
  
"You know what? I wanted to feel some sort of sympathy for you." Rei unfolded her arms. "Yours is a sad, unfortunate story. But this deliberate cruelty....I can't forgive it. And I will do anything to protect Michiru-san." One hand reached into the loose sleeve of her kimono and pulled out a small strip of paper. "Evil Spirit.....BEGONE!!", she cried, hurtling the charm towards Michiru's body.   
  
When the paper hit her forehead, Michiru, as well as the spirit inside her, froze. "What...what?"   
  
"Sailor Uranus!" Rei turned to her. "Now might be our only chance."  
  
Uranus' heart skipped a beat. "But...if I...."  
  
"Now, Haruka-san!"   
  
"Kami-sama....." Uranus raised her arm high over her head. "Michiru, forgive me." With her hand, she began to draw up energy. "WORLD SHAKING!!!"   
  
The kinetic force of an earthquake hit Michiru's body, sparing nothing. The blast would have thrown her backwards over the cliff if not for Rei's charm which held her motionless. The two voices that came from Michiru's mouth screamed in pain.   
  
Uranus clentched her fist so hard that her nails dug through her gloves and into the skin on her palms; blood stained the white material crimson. "Get the hell out of her!!"  
  
Michiru's body convulsed again. After a moment of frantic writhing, it simply went limp. Michiru fell to her knees on the rough rocks.   
  
But Haruka had no time to run over to her. As soon as the spirit left her body, it began to implant itself in the closest body to her.   
  
"Rei-chan!!", Uranus cried out. It was too late.   
  
Rei's dark eyes glinted as she looked at the two outer Senshi. "I'll throw this body over the cliff, Sailor Uranus. You know I will." Buried behind the girl's voice was Rei's, soft and frightened.   
  
"And you know that I would stop you at all costs." Uranus took a step forward. "That girl is my friend...our friend. She is a true innocent." Behind Rei, Uranus could see Michiru stir. She lifted her head and looked around as though trying to assess what was going on.   
  
"Innocence doesn't exist. Innocence died a long time ago." Rei pointed to the cliff's edge. "She killed it."   
  
Uranus shook her head. "My Michiru is incapable of intentionally hurting anyone."   
  
The intermingled voices laughed. "You forget...I've been inside her mind. I know her." Rei's lips curled up wickedly. "I know you too, Sailor Uranus."  
  
"What?"   
  
"Fainted recently, have you?"   
  
Uranus' face became pale. "You...were in...me? That's how you drove her here...." She looked up at the dark sky, ignoring the rain. "What did you say to her?"   
  
"Everything you were thinking, Sailor Uranus." Rei's head cocked to the side, mischievously. "Although I elaborated just a little."  
  
"What did you say to her?!", Uranus screamed.   
  
During their exchange, Michiru had been trying painstakingly to stand up. The rocks were so slippery and so sharp.... The front of her wet, clingy nightdress was torn and streaked with blood from various cuts on her knees and legs. Finally though, she regained her footing. "Haruka?" Her girlfriend was yelling at Rei. No..it wasn't Rei. She could tell that immediately as the girl's head turned and gave her a dangerous smile. "Rei-chan?"   
  
"Welcome back, Sailor Neptune. You're just in time for the fun part." It was Rei's voice speaking, but there was someone else speaking with her. Michiru recognized the voice immediately; she shivered. Before she could think of a reply, Rei's body went limp. She bent over, supporting her weight with her hands on her knees. Her head lifted after a moment. "Uranus...Michiru-san."  
  
"Rei-chan!", Uranus cried. "Fight her! Don't let her take control again."   
  
Rei's eyes filled with tears. "She's so strong...." She wiped at her cheeks with the back of her hand. "Maybe...if she just takes me...she'll leave Michiru-san alone...."  
  
Michiru pressed one hand to her mouth. "Rei-chan...no...no..."  
  
"No one is going to die here tonight, Rei-chan", Uranus announced. "I won't allow it."   
  
"You don't know....you have no idea how strong she is....." Rei bent over again; her whole body was so rigid, it shook. "So much hate....she has no outlet for it.... If she takes me, it will all be over..." Her back straightened again and she looked up at Uranus. "You and Michiru-san will be safe....and together."   
  
"We'd never forgive ourselves", Uranus whispered. "Never."   
  
"It's my sacrifice to make..." Rei's eyes widened and she cried out. Her body relaxed and slowly, her eyes narrowed again. "I have to give this girl credit....she's got some amazing power. But I'm in control here."   
  
"Leave her alone...please!!", Michiru begged. "It's me you want, not her!!"   
  
"If this is what I have to do, I'll do it."   
  
Michiru's eyes closed. "Gods help us...."  
  
Rei's body turned to look at her. "I prayed too, right before I died." She shrugged. "Didn't do much good."   
  
"You prayed...." Michiru's brow crinkled. "You prayed...." Suddenly, her eyes flew open. "Kami-sama...", she cried. "I remember!!"   
  
There was hesitation in the two voices that came from Rei's mouth. "What?"   
  
"Michiru?" Uranus took a step forward.   
  
Her girlfriend's eyes darted around as she struggled to put the pieces of her memories into place. One index finger massaged her temple. "I had only very recently been called to be a Sailor Senshi.....I was walking in the park one day, looking for something to draw...."   
  
Rei's eyes closed. "I was waiting for my boyfriend in the park....."  
  
"A youma appeared out of nowhere. It was so massive....and ugly..." Michiru lowered her gaze. "It was going for the girl..."  
  
"The thing was coming for me....I was so scared."   
  
"I couldn't even think....it was all I could do to transform myself...."  
  
"A Sailor Scout appeared.....Sailor Neptune." The voices from Rei took on a wistful tone. "I thought I was saved."  
  
Michiru frowned. "I was so new at everything....I didn't know how to control my powers...."  
  
"Why is the attack coming towards me?" Rei's hand pressed against her throat. "Oh no...no...please, no!!!"  
  
"Get out of the way!! Move!!!! Please move!!!!" Michiru's finger nails dug into her cheeks. "No!!!!", she screamed.   
  
Rei's head slowly shook back and forth. "It's too late...it's too late....it's too late...."  
  
"I killed her", Michiru whispered. "I killed you.....and I wanted to make it go away. I didn't know...how to deal with it." She slipped to her knees. "Gomen nasai....I'm sorry....I'm so very sorry...."  
  
The body of the Senshi of Mars kneeled next to her. "You remember me?"   
  
Michiru nodded through her tears. "I remember you. Your name was....Nitta Itsuko....you were in your second year of junior high." Her lower lip trembled. "I read it in the paper.....and I just didn't know what to do. I didn't mean to forget you....I didn't know....what to do....gomen nasai. Gomen nasai."  
  
Uranus followed the conversation with the air of an outsider. She swallowed a lump in her throat. Though she had known there must have been things that happened to Michiru before they met, and things that happened to Sailor Neptune before she was called, nothing could have prepared her for this.   
  
"I never got to do anything....I never got to go to high school...kiss my boyfriend....I never got to grow up", the voices whispered. "And everyone forgot me. Nitta Itsuko was forgotten...." After a moment, a smile spread onto Rei's lovely face. "But you remembered me....."  
  
"Can you ever, ever forgive me?" Michiru clasped her hands to her heart, pleadingly.   
  
Rei's body sagged as once again the spirit shifted. The dark haired girl slumped to the wet ground, unconcious. Beside her, the vision of the young girl in the junior high uniform named Itsuko appeared. Michiru could hear her girlfriend gasp upon seeing what had been haunting them.   
  
"I forgive you, Sailor Neptune. I never imagined myself capable of the things I've done...even when I was alive." She reached out one hand. Michiru stretched out her own arm until her fingers brushed against Itsuko's transparent ones. "Just please....don't forget me...." The image began to fade.  
  
"I won't", Michiru promised. "I won't...." Itsuko was gone. And with her went the rain. A crescent moon peaked out from behind the dark grey clouds.   
  
It was several long minutes before Haruka could bring herself to speak. "We should get Rei-chan home."  
  
Michiru looked up at her girlfriend. "Ruka....I....I need to tell you...."  
  
"Later, Michiru." She detransformed and walked over to Rei, picking up the still unconscious girl in her arms. "Just....give me some time."   
  
The sea haired girl nodded. "Time. Time is something we're lucky enough to have."  
  
**********  
  
With the grace and ease of years of practice, Michiru slowly drew the bow across the violin strings, producing a final, poingant note from the instrument. Her right arm, still clasping the bow, fell to her side. She gave a little sigh. An hour of practice and she still felt an empty pit in her stomach.   
  
From the kitchen, she could hear the sounds of the TV show Hotaru watched every day, without fail. She smiled and stood up from the piano bench. Turning around, she nearly dropped her violin.   
  
Haruka stood in the doorway to the foyer, leaning against the wood, hands in her pockets. "Sounds beautiful...as usual", she commented.   
  
Michiru swallowed. The words were the first Haruka had spoken to her in five days, ever since the night on the cliff. She had born the silence with as much understanding as possible, even when Haruka had decided to sleep in the guest room. However, she could tell how their current situation was taking a toll on the other people in the house. Hime-chan couldn't understand it at all; she just wanted her Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama to be happy again. Her memories of the fall into the reflection pool became hazier by the day, for which her guardians were more than happy to see. With no lasting physical evidence on the girl, they saw no reason why she should have to bear the memory.   
  
They hadn't told Setsuna about the events that took place on that stormy seaside cliff, but somehow, they knew she could just tell. She wasn't unfriendly to them; she had been taking Michiru to school in the mornings, after all. But she had noticibly backed off, perhaps to give them both the time and space they needed to resolve their issues.   
  
Michiru calmly replaced the violin in its case. Beneath the cool exterior she displayed, her heart raced. Would today finally be the day that they could talk? Get everything out in the open and, hopefully, get on with their lives together? "Arigato", she accepted the compliment. "It's a tricky piece of music."   
  
Haruka took one hand from her pocket and scratched an non-existent itch on her arm. "Isn't there a piano piece that accompanies it?"   
  
"Hai", Michiru nodded. She fought to control the wave of hope that washed over her. Was Haruka really offering to play a duet with her? "There is."   
  
"Maybe I can look at it sometime...you know, for fun. It's been too long...."  
  
Michiru closed her eyes. Her body ached wanting to touch Haruka. "It has been."   
  
"...since I've played the piano." Haruka cleared her throat. There was an awkward pause. "So..."  
  
"So", Michiru echoed. Another seconds pause. "Ruka?"  
  
"Here's how it is." Her girlfriend stepped all the way into the music room. "Seeing you on that cliff..." She stopped. "...well, it was the worst moment of my life."  
  
"Wasn't my finest either", Michiru whispered.   
  
Haruka didn't seem to hear her. "The one thing I care about most in the world could have been gone in a second. Less than a second. And then to find out that, in some small way, you had a part in putting things that way......" She shook her head. "It was just a little bit too much to deal with."  
  
Michiru smiled weakly. "I know the feeling."   
  
"Kuso, Michiru! You should have told me! Something that big...you should have told me. But you didn't. You let it fester inside of you for years!"   
  
"I wanted to tell you, back when I still remembered." Michiru looked down at her hands. "But I didn't know....how you would react." She looked back up at Haruka; tears shone in her eyes. "What would you have thought of me if the first thing I told you was that I had killed someone with my powers?"   
  
Haruka wanted to say that it wouldn't have mattered, but she held her tongue. In truth, she wasn't sure how she would have reacted. "Michiru..."  
  
"By the time I felt I could tell you, it had just become easier to forget. For a long time, before you were called, she had been the center of my universe. My guilt....", Michiru trailed off. "After you were called, my universe had a new center. And the guilt faded." She took a breath. "I'm not proud of myself, Haruka. But I can't change the decisions I made back then. No matter how much I might want to."   
  
"And I'm not asking you to change the past, Michi. I just need to know that in the future....you'll know me well enough to know that you can tell me anything." Haruka took another step closer. "I want you to trust me with everything. The good stuff and the bad stuff."   
  
Michiru felt a tear slip down her cheek. "I know. And...." She smiled. "I do, Ruka. I do."   
  
Her girlfriend moved even closer until she was near enough to reach out and tuck a lock of aquamarine hair behind Michiru's ear. "Kami-sama, I've missed you, Michi", she whispered.  
  
"I've missed you too, koi." Michiru reached up and covered Haruka's hand with her own. "Can you forgive me?"   
  
Haruka lowered her hand, bringing Michiru's with it. "Only if you promise to forgive me."   
  
Michiru looked puzzled. "Forgive you for what, Ruka?" When she didn't get an immediate reply, she continued. "I know that it wasn't you who said all those things to me that day."   
  
Her girlfriend took a breath, as if preparing herself. "They weren't my words, Michi. But up on the cliff...she told me...." Haruka paused. "I doubted you, Michiru. The worst part of me believed that you had tried to leave me. I need you to forgive me for that...." She chuckled bitterly. "And how can I ask you to trust me if I'm not trustworthy myself?"   
  
"Shh..." Michiru pressed her other index finger lightly against Haruka's lips. "We forgive each other, Ruka. That's all I need to know."   
  
Haruka's smile was short-lived. "There's only one more thing."  
  
"What's that?"   
  
"I want you to forgive yourself."   
  
After taking a long, shaky breath, Michiru replied, "Ara... You know, she'll always be with me. Some little part of her...as it should be, I suppose." She looked at their entwined fingers. "Maybe someday, I'll be able to." Their gazes met again. "With your help?"   
  
Instead of replying, Haruka pulled Michiru even closer and kissed her softly. Michiru wrapped her arms around Haruka's neck and pressed her body against her girlfriend's strong frame. When they pulled apart a minute later, Haruka could feel her own eyes watering. She looked up at the ceiling, blinking them back before they could spill over. "Well...", she said, her voice sticking. "What are you going to do now?"  
  
Michiru thought for a moment. "I was thinking about going for a swim, actually."   
  
"Ara...that's...good." Haruka failed to hide the disappointment in her face. "I can understand...you wanting to be alone." She stepped back.   
  
Before Haruka could remove her hands from Michiru's hips, Michiru grabbed them, holding them in place. "Join me?"   
  
"In the pool? But...." Haruka was confused. "The pool is your place. Your...." She searched for a word. "Your...sanctuary."   
  
Michiru smiled and shook her head. "You're my sanctuary, Ruka-chan." She reached up and pulled Haruka's head down until their lips met again.   
  
"Okay..." Haruka said after a long while. "I'm convinced. I'll go get my bathing suit."   
  
"Bathing suit?" Michiru raised one sea-green eyebrow mischievously. "Bathing suits are a waste of time."   
  
Her girlfriend laughed loudly. "You never cease to surprise me, kirei."   
  
"Haruka-papa!" Hotaru's voice startled them both; they broke apart. "Are you talking to Michiru-mama?"  
  
"Oh....you could probably say that", Haruka winked at Michiru.  
  
"Well, it's about time!" The young girl crossed her arms over her chest.   
  
Setsuna appeared right behind Hotaru. "Hai...I agree. It's about damn time." She smiled at the couple.   
  
"You'd think that the Senshi in charge of time could have a better sense of timing", Haruka whispered into Michiru's ear.   
  
Although they had no idea how, Setsuna heard them. She looked down at Hotaru. "You know what I'm thinking, Hime-chan?"   
  
"What, Setsuna-mama?"   
  
"It's been a very long time since we all took a swim in the pool together", Sestuna continued; her eyes twinkled. "You know...like a family."   
  
Michiru and Haruka exchanged a hasty look. "All of us....right now?", Michiru asked. Setsuna nodded solemnly. Michiru looked back at Haruka; her girlfriend raised her shoulders in defeat. She gave in. "To the pool then."   
  
Hotaru let out a little cry of joy and scooted up the stairs, presumably to change clothes. When she was gone, Setsuna shook her head at her friends. "Really, you two. And in the middle of the afternoon." Laughing, she followed Hotaru.   
  
Haruka ran her hand through her hair in frustration, but there was a smile on her lips. "I swear...she's just been waiting to do that."   
  
Michiru sighed, then chuckled. "The best laid plans...." She met Haruka's gaze. "Well? Now what?"  
  
"I'm thinking.....I'll leave after ten minutes. You leave after fifteen and meet me upstairs. Deal?" Haruka held out her hand.   
  
Her girlfriend laughed out loud and slapped her palm against Haruka's. "Deal." They kissed. "Partner."   
  
***********  
  
"Oh, ain't it just like the rain?  
'Cause love, love, love, love is only heaven away.   
Inside you, the time moves and she don't fade.   
The ghost in you, she don't fade away...."  
  
~Psychedelic Furs  
  
************ 


End file.
